Colo. Massacre Suspect's Plea Offer Rejected

DAN ELLIOTT On Mar 29, 2013

Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes is seen in the courtroom during his arraignment in Centennial, Colo.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Denver Post, RJ Sangosti, Pool

DENVER (AP) — Prosecutors in the Colorado theater massacre case have rejected an offer from suspect James Holmes to plead guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, saying the proposal can't be considered genuine because the defense has repeatedly refused to give them information needed to evaluate it.

No plea agreement exists, prosecutors said in a scathing court document Thursday, and one "is extremely unlikely based on the present information available to the prosecution."

They also said anyone reading news stories about the offer would inevitably conclude "the defendant knows that he is guilty, the defense attorneys know that he is guilty, and that both of them know that he was not criminally insane."

Holmes is charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder in the July 20 shootings in a packed theater in the Denver suburb of Aurora. Twelve people were killed and 70 were injured.

Holmes' attorneys disclosed in a court filing Wednesday that their client has offered to plead guilty, but only if he wouldn't be executed.

Prosecutors criticized defense attorneys for publicizing the offer, calling it a ploy meant to draw the public and the judge into what should be private plea negotiations.

Prosecutors did not say what information the defense refused to give them, but the two sides have argued in court previously about access to information about Holmes' mental health.

Karen Steinhauser, a former prosecutor who is now an adjunct professor at the University of Denver's law school, said prosecutors clearly do not want to agree to a plea deal without knowing whether Holmes' attorneys could mount a strong mental health defense.

"One of the issues the prosecution needs to look at is, is there a likelihood that doctors, and then a jury, could find that James Holmes was insane at the time of the crime?" she said.

Prosecutors also criticized comments to The Associated Press by Doug Wilson, who heads the state public defenders' office.

Wilson told the AP Wednesday that prosecutors had not responded to the offer and said he didn't know whether prosecutors had relayed the offer to any victims as required by state law.

Prosecutors said that violated the gag order.

They also said they have repeatedly contacted "every known victim and family member of a victim — numbering over one thousand" about possible resolutions of the case, including the death penalty and life in prison without parole.

George Brauchler, the Arapahoe County district attorney, is scheduled to announce Monday whether he will seek the death penalty for Holmes. He has refused repeatedly to comment on the case, citing the gag order.

Pierce O'Farrill, who was shot three times, said he would welcome an agreement that would imprison Holmes for life. The years of court struggles ahead would likely be an emotional ordeal for victims, he said.

"I don't see his death bringing me peace," O'Farrill said. "To me, my prayer for him was that he would spend the rest of his life in prison and hopefully, in all those years he has left, he could find God and ask for forgiveness himself."

A plea bargain would bring finality to the case fairly early so victims and their families can avoid the prolonged trauma of not knowing what will happen, said Dan Recht, a past president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar.

"The defense, by making this public pleading, is reaching out to the victims' families," he said.

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Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this report.

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